Coming off of a strong win against the Novato Hornets last Friday, Redwood swimmers prepare for this week’s MCAL competitions with confidence and enthusiasm, as well as pressure and anticipation for the regional meet.
The girls’ team has won MCALs for the past 10 years straight, however this season has been weaker with a season record of 6-3. The boys have not won for 12 years, but with a season record of 8-1, an MCAL title may be in their future.
The past few weeks the team has been following a special regime in preparation for both MCALs and NCS. By going on taper, the swimmers are eating healthier and having less intense practices, giving their bodies a chance to rest. By doing so they will hopefully show improvement for the upcoming competitions.
According to sophomore Crystal Safavi, competitions like MCALs and NCS have a different feel to them as opposed to regular meets. “The other difference between weekly meets and MCALs is that at MCALs, we just have a different vibe about it. We are much more rowdy, we’re worked up, and we really want to win, so we’ll just naturally swim faster because of all the pressure placed upon us. We don’t want to let our team down by losing or getting a slow time.”
As swimmers approached their designated blocks at last Friday’s meet against the Novato Hornets, the upcoming MCALs competition loomed overhead, on the minds of spectators and swimmers alike.
Despite the pressure of approaching MCALs, the girls won against the Hornets 110-69, while the boys won 119-49, hopefully indicating how they will perform in the competition that starts with prelims on Thursday and continues on Saturday with finals.
After the respective teams belted out their school chants, the Novato meet was under way, starting with the girls’ 200 medley relay swimmers, with Redwood winning the first event.
Notable times include junior Emma McCarthy’s 500 meter freestyle time of 5:09 as well as junior Jake Racich’s 100 meter freestyle time of 52.29 seconds. Racich is preparing to swim the 200 meter freestyle along with the 500 meter freestyle at MCALs.
“My one hundred, I thought was really good because I got a good time and my coaches were happy for me, so personally it was good, but I thought we did really good collectively as a team,” Racich said of the meet, “Overall, I think we pulled the meet off as a team, and it shows that we’ve come a long way. It was also a really fun meet, being there with everyone, and I think we’ve prepared for MCALs.”
According to Alis Sowa, a freshman swimming the backstroke and 200 individual medley in the coming competitions, “The chances of anyone in the league winning are high and will most likely come down to the last 400 freestyle relay for both boys and girls. The girls lost three meets so the competition is a lot more intense for them. The boys have a really good chance because they beat Terra Linda and came close to beating Tam, their biggest rivals.”
The finals on Saturday start at 10:00 a.m. at the Redwood pool, ending the dedicated season as well as reflecting the performance of Redwood swimmers.
